The decision to study abroad is a life-changing experience in an individual’s life, it is an ultimate investment in one’s future. This investment happens far away from parental guidance, so it is completely normal for parents to get stressed out and worried about the child’s life-changing decision of leaving home. Studying abroad is a lifetime opportunity, that provides academic success and better career prospects which are aided by maturity and flexibility of being independent.
Students need proper counseling for getting their parents on board with the plan of them pursuing higher studies abroad, showing the main objective behind it for developing the overall personality of an individual, learning foreign dialects and performing well in academics to set on a great career path. The employability quotient for a foreign degree is considered more valuable in the global economy, which depicts the skills of an individual in struggling to attain education, despite the prevalent cultural differences overseas.
Here are some tips listed below for students to convince their parents, to let them study abroad for pursuing higher education and build a career:
- Prepare Well and Show Interest: When students show initiative in taking interest in pursuing higher education abroad, their seriousness and enthusiasm affects the mindset of parents in believing that their children really want to take this life-changing experience. Students must focus on getting good grades since the schooling phase, and start learning foreign languages, learn to cook, start reading books and novels, watch movies to learn about different countries’ cultures. Parents will eventually recognize their child’s keenness and all the effort put in learning and adapting to a foreign culture, that will assure them that their child can survive in abroad while pursuing an education and career.
- Presenting the Aspirations with supporting Facts: Students should orient towards a career path first, and then decide how to pursue this career and which course and country they should select for studying. It is very necessary for students to gather all the information and research for specifics regarding the choice of college and country they have selected, they can put the collection of all this information in a well-structured presentation that will seem appealing to the parents. This presentation should be supported with facts, and the step-by-step process of how to enroll for the desired course in a foreign country should be explained to parents, so as to make them understand the effort and worth of students’ aspirations.
- Mentioning the Opportunities and Personal Goals: Students pursuing higher education abroad get to immerse in a new culture, that train them to become an adult with cross-cultural experience and inculcate several other qualities like maturity and independence. Students get several opportunities to boost their career in a foreign country, they learn how to adapt to a new environment and become a responsible adult in the future. Students set their personal goals regarding pursuing education abroad that help them build on a career providing several opportunities time-to-time to prosper in life.
- Mentioning the Academic Benefits and Professional Growth: Students get to start their college year in a refreshed state of mind when they are away from home. Studying abroad helps them perform their best in academic terms, and maintains their focus on getting good grades by promoting motivation and enthusiasm of the individuals. The international exposure gives individuals the experience to thrive in a global competition for competing against different candidates for internships and a great job profile. The career of students is also affected by their fluency in speaking another language, which can result in better salaries.
- Providing Financial Help to Repay Education Loan: Students can help parents in paying back the student loan taken for sending them to pursue higher education abroad, they can go an extra mile and offer to finance their abroad trip by working a part-time job, and saving funds to invest in their future. Making a budget for the international trip will demonstrate the self-reliance quality of an individual that will lead to convince the parents for sending their child abroad for building a career in search of a great job profile.
- Promising to Stay in Touch and Keeping Safe: Parents are generally concerned about the safety of their child in a foreign country, so students can put their worries aside by researching for the emergency numbers and insurances that the college offers. Students, as well as parents, can also feel left out when there is no contact between the two, so staying safe and keeping in touch are the main promises individuals can make to their family. Nowadays, it is easier to connect with each other through the media of Social Media, where they can call or text daily to know about each other.
- Mentioning that they’ll get some Time off from Parenting: Students should state the fact that parents will get some time off from parenting when their child is far away from home and is going to be self-dependent in an unknown country. Parenting is a job for life, but when the children stay away from home, they get mature and independent by time on their own, they become a responsible adult with impressive language skills and a bright future who can return home and help their family and the home country in the future.
- Not getting into an Argument with Parents: Convincing parents to send their child abroad can prove to be a really challenging task; the constant determination of the children and resistance of the parents can lead to a heated argument that should be avoided at all costs. Students must realize that it takes time to land such a case, they can throw a reminder in order to make the parents know about their idea of going abroad for further studies.
Students must realize the importance of being emotionally stable and intelligent for convincing their parents to let them study abroad, they should put all the worries aside and focus on proving their emotional maturity and ability to handle conflicts. The parents always want the best for their child, so it is the duty of the children to make them believe that studying abroad is a great decision that will affect their life in a positive way. A strong relationship can be built on the fact of supporting each other in tough times, and helping each other to put away all the worries through a very thoughtful conversation.